Unfound Worries
by Allyson
Summary: Lucy goes to Edmund for advice


_Narnia_ – Unfounded Worries

By Allyson

(A/N – C. S. Lewis owns _Narnia_ and all its characters)

Lucy huffed an unhappy sigh for the second time as she looked critically at her appearance in the mirror. She attempted to stretch out the freckles under her eyes and only succeeded in pulling a silly face and leaving red marks where her fingers had been. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Edmund," she asked, eyes still fixed on the mirror. "Do you think I'm a good catch?"

To the left of her, Edmund sat hunched over his desk, barely visible amongst the growing pile of books and parchment surrounding him. The sound of his scratching quill broke the silence.

Without looking up from his work, Edmund distractedly replied, "Your hand-eye co-ordination is pretty decent but a bit of practice wouldn't hurt."

Lucy blinked, replayed his answer over in her head and then turned to make sure that he wasn't teasing her. She gave him an exasperated look that was wasted on him, as she realized he was only half-paying attention to her.

"That's not what I meant," she replied. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

Edmund continued to work for a few minutes before he frowned and glanced at her.

"Of course you are," he replied, matter-of-factly though confused at her question. Suddenly his eyes darkened. "Who's told you otherwise? Has someone upset you?"

"No, no they haven't," Lucy hurriedly responded, recognizing the signs of an over-protective brother and wanting to stall it. "No one's said anything."

Edmund peered at her suspiciously for a moment before nodding with satisfaction and delving back into the book he'd been reading.

"It's just that Su's got all those suitor's falling over her . . ."

Lucy had turned back to frown at the mirror and so didn't notice the absence of sound coming from Edmund's quill or see the shocked open-jawed expression on Edmund's slowly paling face.

". . . and none of the visiting Lords or Princes have even given me a second glance. Am I that awful to look at?"

Edmund finally managed to find his voice. "Lucy, what are you talking about? You've never been jealous of Su's . . . popularity . . . before."

Lucy dropped her eyes away from the mirror to fiddle with one of the braids in her hair. "I know," she murmured, a little bit embarrassed.

Seeing his sister's unhappy expression, Edmund sighed and dragged a hand over his face in resignation. Why couldn't Lucy have this conversation with someone else instead? He leaned forwards to catch her attention.

"Lu, there's nothing wrong with you," he told her reassuringly. "When you're older you'll have just as many . . . suitors . . . as Su has got now. Twice as many in fact." Lucy smiled in appreciation. "Peter and I will chase them all out of Narnia for just as much as looking at you." His sister laughed in amusement. "Don't be so eager to grow up, Lu. I'm sure if you spoke to Su about this; she'll tell you that constantly receiving and turning down marriage proposals isn't as much fun as you think it might be."

Lucy cocked her head to one side as she turned back to face Edmund. "You sound like you're speaking from experience," she commented.

Edmund's cheeks tinged a bright red even as he dismissed her teasing.

"Besides," Edmund added, as he picked his quill back up and started to shuffle the scrolls around on his desk. "You wouldn't want any of those pompous idiots to go courting with."

Lucy raised a surprised eyebrow. "I wouldn't?"

Edmund shook his head and, with a glinting eye, he replied with a serious expression, "No, the man you marry will have no front teeth, a huge broken nose, be overweight and have the personality of a pea."

He ducked as a comb was thrown at him. Lucy grinned at him.

"I'm telling Peter," she sing-songed.

Edmund remained unfazed as he copied something down from the open book in front of him.

"You know as well as I do that Peter will never be ready to let you marry, let alone court anyone," he told her, with an exasperated eye-roll as he thought of their older brother. Lucy made a sound of agreement. "You'll be eighty and drooling onto your teacup before he'll get over his mother-henning."

He ducked as a cushion from a nearby chair was hurled at him, skimming his hair.

Through her laughter, Lucy managed to threaten, "Then I'm telling Susan."

Edmund straightened up and gave her a look of mock-terror. "You wouldn't dare."

Lucy's grin widened. She took in a deep breath in order to shout her older Susan's name, when she found herself tackled to the floor. She screamed with laughter as Edmund proceeded to tickle her.

"Stop it, Ed!" she gasped. "I take it back!"

The bang of the door suddenly froze them.

"What is going on in here?"

With matching guilty looks, Edmund and Lucy turned towards the door to find Susan watching them. Her disapproving glare was ruined by the amused smile twitching her lips.

"Nothing," chorused the two younger siblings innocently.

Susan shook her head and decided not to ask. She helped her younger sister to her feet and tidied up her appearance.

"Lucy, dear, come with me. Prince Rochelle has a younger brother and he's longing to meet you."

Edmund smirked as he sat back down at his desk. "Didn't they arrive this morning? Yes, I remember the younger brother – snotty-nosed lad who grunted at his feet when Pete spoke to him."

Lucy pulled a face of distaste while Susan threw Edmund a warning look.

"Edmund, don't be rude about our guests," she scolded him. "Lucy, don't listen to him. I'm sure the Prince's brother is a perfectly nice person."

"Check to see if he still has his front teeth," Edmund quipped, as he searched for his quill.

Susan ignored her brother and smiled at Lucy. "Oh, this is so exciting," she told her in delight. "Your first suitor, Lucy."

Lucy's expression clearly showed she wasn't quite as convinced despite her complaints earlier to Edmund.

"You'll be fine," reassured Susan. "Just be yourself. It's just a chat and I'll be with you."

Lucy nodded, relaxing a little, before glancing back at Edmund.

"Have fun," he told her, calmly.

She quickly ran over to him and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Ed," she murmured, gratefully, before following Susan out of the room.

The door wasn't even shut before Edmund's mind was already forming plans to find Peter and inventing an excuse to run both princes out of Narnia before the end of the day.

The End


End file.
